The BBC's new drama set in a newsroom in the 1950s is being compared to the
hit American show Mad Men. Tom Chivers previews episode one.

It’s been billed at the British Mad Men. And while the comparison is flattering to The Hour, a six-part drama about television news in Britain in 1956, it is not ridiculous. Starring several big names, including Ben Whishaw (Criminal Justice), The Wire’s Dominic West and Romola Garai, best known for Atonement, it flits between society London and a seedy underworld; a debutante engagement and a backstreet murder.

Freddie Lyon (Whishaw) is the young, idealistic and outspoken journalist intent on transforming the news – “We’re calcifying!” he spits. “Martial law is declared in Poland and we’re reporting Prince Rainier of Monaco getting married!” Freddie also has an unspoken, unrequited love for his equally ambitious fellow journalist Bel (Garai). The script is sharp and fiery: Lyon argues his case by saying journalism should “reveal fleeting moments of history. Not with apology. Not as it is now, with endless static newsreel… Of course, we all want to be entertained, but while we’re all laughing, Russia is aligning its missiles and declaring World War Three.”

Whishaw has the right mix of passion and brittle arrogance, while West is always watchable as the smooth, entitled Hector Madden, the presenter of the new The Hour news programme. Dimly lit and atmospheric, it looks the part, and the feeling of a world changing is powerful. The Hour is compelling British drama. Worthy of the hype.